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Unraveling Bias: How Prejudice Has Shaped Children for Generations and Why It's Time to Break the Cycle
We need only scan the latest news headlines to see how bias and prejudice harm adults and children alike--every single day.
Police shootings that give rise to the Black Lives Matter revolution, rampant sexual harassment of women and the subsequent #MeToo movement, and extreme violence toward trans men and women are just three examples.
It would be easy to fix these problems if the examples stopped with a few racist or sexist individuals, but there are also biases embedded in our government policies, media, and institutions.
As a developmental psychologist and international expert on stereotypes and discrimination in children, Dr. Christia Spears Brown knows that biases and prejudice don't just develop as people become adults (or CEOs or politicians). They begin when children are young, slowly growing and exposed to prejudice in their classrooms, after-school activities, and, yes, even in their homes, no matter how enlightened their parents may consider themselves to be. The only way to have a more just and equitable world--not to mention more broad-minded, empathetic children--is for parents to closely examine biases beginning in childhood and how they infiltrate our kids' lives.
In her new book Unraveling Bias: How Prejudice Has Shaped Children for Generations and Why It's Time to Break the Cycle, Dr. Brown will uncover what scientists have learned about how children are impacted by biases, and how we adults can help protect them from those biases. Part science, part history, part current events, and part call to arms, Unraveling Bias provides readers with the answers to vital questions:
How do biased policies, schools, and media harm our children?
Where does childhood prejudice come from, and how do these prejudices shape children's behavior, goals, relationships, and beliefs about themselves?
What can we learn from modern-day science to help us protect our children from these biases?
Few issues today are as critical as being aware of bias and prejudice all around us and making sure our youth don't succumb to them. To change lives and advance society, it's time to unravel our biases--starting with the future leaders of the world.
Police shootings that give rise to the Black Lives Matter revolution, rampant sexual harassment of women and the subsequent #MeToo movement, and extreme violence toward trans men and women are just three examples.
It would be easy to fix these problems if the examples stopped with a few racist or sexist individuals, but there are also biases embedded in our government policies, media, and institutions.
As a developmental psychologist and international expert on stereotypes and discrimination in children, Dr. Christia Spears Brown knows that biases and prejudice don't just develop as people become adults (or CEOs or politicians). They begin when children are young, slowly growing and exposed to prejudice in their classrooms, after-school activities, and, yes, even in their homes, no matter how enlightened their parents may consider themselves to be. The only way to have a more just and equitable world--not to mention more broad-minded, empathetic children--is for parents to closely examine biases beginning in childhood and how they infiltrate our kids' lives.
In her new book Unraveling Bias: How Prejudice Has Shaped Children for Generations and Why It's Time to Break the Cycle, Dr. Brown will uncover what scientists have learned about how children are impacted by biases, and how we adults can help protect them from those biases. Part science, part history, part current events, and part call to arms, Unraveling Bias provides readers with the answers to vital questions:
How do biased policies, schools, and media harm our children?
Where does childhood prejudice come from, and how do these prejudices shape children's behavior, goals, relationships, and beliefs about themselves?
What can we learn from modern-day science to help us protect our children from these biases?
Few issues today are as critical as being aware of bias and prejudice all around us and making sure our youth don't succumb to them. To change lives and advance society, it's time to unravel our biases--starting with the future leaders of the world.
288 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 30, 2021
9 people are currently reading
946 people want to read
About the author
Christia Spears Brown
7 books21 followersChristia Spears Brown, PhD, is a professor of developmental psychology at the University of Kentucky. Her work on the impact of gender stereotypes on children and adolescents has been published widely in scientific journals and featured in numerous newspapers, magazines, local radio shows, NPR, and the CBS Evening News. She blogs regularly for Psychology Today in her column "Beyond Pink and Blue." She also stays busy as the mother of two daughters.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 8, 2022
Insightful, educational and inspirational. I appreciated the “Scientist Behind The Science” segments which highlight female contributions to research which has helped forward the cause of reducing bias and understanding the tenuous journey of minority children and adolescents. Also an incredibly well-done comprehensive cataloguing of consequential court cases which have paved the way for more equitable educational experiences for so many.
May 10, 2022
Comprehensive review of the different types of bias that develop during childhood, with recommendations on how to counter them. Spears Brown includes a chapter in each section about the researchers who produced the research underpinning her narrative. I appreciated this addition, as many of these researchers themselves have fascinating, and troubling, experiences of bias. My one quibble with the book is that it felt somewhat redundant. I've read some of Spears Brown's other work, as well as some of the other literature she covers. At a certain point it felt a bit like covering the same ground yet again.
December 18, 2021
“First, we have to move past assumptions that well-meaning adults don’t unintentionally pass along biases to children and that children are exempt from biases simply because they are young. Second, we have to accept that bias is pervasive and harmful, and reducing bias is everyone’s responsibility.”
This was a book I was excited to dive into! As a teacher, I’m constantly trying to identify bias and work on fixing patterns and behaviors built upon prejudice. I learned a lot of relevant information, including:
📚 how and why biases form, and the age levels where perceptions are more rigid than others.
📚 the effect that exposure to diversity has on bias.
📚 how children internalize nonverbal cues, so when conversation about prejudice isn’t happening, the nonverbal cues of the adults around them are how they learn to see and react to others.
📚 that being the target of discrimination results in worse grades, higher dropout rates, lower self-esteem, more depression, more thoughts of suicide, more delinquency, more drug use, more aggression, and more health issues.
📚 the importance of court cases in moving social processes forward; the “laws sometimes need to change first and people’s attitudes and beliefs will follow.”
📚 how the court decision to desegregate in the US had so much leniency that many districts never did, and others found loopholes to continue serving primarily white families. The number and types of loopholes were shocking, and I thought I knew a bit about this already.
📚 tips on how to talk with children about bias in a way that is helpful in confronting and overcoming it.
One thing I didn’t love was that disability wasn’t covered at all. There are so many biases concerning physical and/or mental disabilities, but this wasn’t more than a mention in the book. Yes, I know entire books could be written on this topic alone, but the audience of this book is looking at bias in children and I feel that this should have been addressed. Otherwise, I really enjoyed the book and learned a lot from it!
Thanks to NetGalley and BenBella books for this Advanced Reader Copy!
This was a book I was excited to dive into! As a teacher, I’m constantly trying to identify bias and work on fixing patterns and behaviors built upon prejudice. I learned a lot of relevant information, including:
📚 how and why biases form, and the age levels where perceptions are more rigid than others.
📚 the effect that exposure to diversity has on bias.
📚 how children internalize nonverbal cues, so when conversation about prejudice isn’t happening, the nonverbal cues of the adults around them are how they learn to see and react to others.
📚 that being the target of discrimination results in worse grades, higher dropout rates, lower self-esteem, more depression, more thoughts of suicide, more delinquency, more drug use, more aggression, and more health issues.
📚 the importance of court cases in moving social processes forward; the “laws sometimes need to change first and people’s attitudes and beliefs will follow.”
📚 how the court decision to desegregate in the US had so much leniency that many districts never did, and others found loopholes to continue serving primarily white families. The number and types of loopholes were shocking, and I thought I knew a bit about this already.
📚 tips on how to talk with children about bias in a way that is helpful in confronting and overcoming it.
One thing I didn’t love was that disability wasn’t covered at all. There are so many biases concerning physical and/or mental disabilities, but this wasn’t more than a mention in the book. Yes, I know entire books could be written on this topic alone, but the audience of this book is looking at bias in children and I feel that this should have been addressed. Otherwise, I really enjoyed the book and learned a lot from it!
Thanks to NetGalley and BenBella books for this Advanced Reader Copy!
December 2, 2021
This book has a lot of really good information and discusses lots of research. I like how Brown draws from research on different specific kinds of bias to make bigger statements about bias in general.
This is a pretty thorough overview of the harm done by bias in general, how any why we all naturally develop bias, and what we can do to change our own biases or influence how our children absorb the biases around them.
Brown really goes into the major studies that shape how we know about the biases of children in particular. She references a lot of other books and scholars that I will be looking into.
This is a pretty thorough overview of the harm done by bias in general, how any why we all naturally develop bias, and what we can do to change our own biases or influence how our children absorb the biases around them.
Brown really goes into the major studies that shape how we know about the biases of children in particular. She references a lot of other books and scholars that I will be looking into.
June 23, 2025
Some interesting points in the first chapter but became unreadable later on. There were so many dates, laws, lawyers, institutions, etc named that it completely derailed the book for me. It would have been great (and much shorter) if some of these details are left out, I am not going to remember anyway nor is anyone going to quiz me about them so why does it need to be this detailed?! Too US focused as well. DNF, skipped many chapters
January 1, 2022
This book lays out our nation’s historical biases, what is happening today and clear ideas to move forward so all children are treated in a fair, inclusive manner.
Anyone who teaches, parents, coaches, or works with children or families in any way should absolutely read this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and BenBella Books for the advance copy!
Anyone who teaches, parents, coaches, or works with children or families in any way should absolutely read this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and BenBella Books for the advance copy!
September 30, 2023
"It is difficult to recognize that you can be a good person who believes in fairness, while simultaneously holding biases. But we have to start somewhere." I recommend starting with this book. Well researched and well written, it also provides practical steps that can be taken.
April 28, 2022
Excellent exploration of the current science on bias with reasonable suggestions for action moving forward. Everyone can find something new to learn in this book.
October 30, 2023
This book is incredible. Anyone with kids or who works with kids needs to read it. Frankly, any interested in how to be a less biased person and how to create a fairer country should read.
June 30, 2021
A must read for every parent, caregiver, teacher, leader, and policy maker. Well written, well researched, and well argued. This is a book I will be referring to often and recommending to many.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews